June 5: Day 1 of my fast, day 830 of our chain.
The erosion of secular India is underway in many ways, none of which is really new but the constant small attacks will have long-lasting dangerous effects:
BJP altering school curriculum https://www.dw.com/en/india-is-the-bjp-altering-school-curriculum-to-promote-hindu-nationalism/a-61932435
So where is India headed? In August, India will celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of India’s independence. Towards that occasion, some essays on Religion, Citizenship, and Belonging in India are compiled by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
https://carnegieendowment.org/2022/06/02/religion-citizenship-and-belonging-in-india-pub-86958
Some citations
Niraja Gopal Jayal: “As the NRC threatens to convert legitimate citizens into illegal immigrants and illegal immigrants into stateless people, both destined for the camp; as the CAA selectively legalizes illegal migrants; and as minorities are rendered second-class citizens by the insidious use of the law, India stands on the edge of a dangerous precipice where not just its constitutional values but also its moral compass is at grave risk.”
Pratap Bhanu Mehta: “Hindu nationalism has tested Indian democracy to a dangerous point while in power; it might test it even more in days to come. But defeating nationalism will require engaging with the long arc and deep fissures of Indian history since the nineteenth century.”
Neelanjan Sircar: “Naturally, the BJP seeks to prevent this sort of fragmentation and maintain consolidated religion-asethnicity voting. In order to do so, the BJP will continue to attempt to use its prodigious institutional, financial, and state power (not to mention Hindutva ideology) to shape popular attitudes about who is and who is not a Hindu. These definitions include dietary habits, which Gods are worshipped, and social attitudes towards Muslims. The consequence of these actions is a more restrictive politically constructed definition of what is considered ‘legitimate’ Hindu practice—and the elevation of a significant subset of India’s Hindu population.”
ChainFastingForPeace
FastingAgainstFascism
ResignAmitShah
FreeSanjivBhatt
ResignModi
Chain Fasting For Peace 